Warning: Lawrence enacts new boot policy for unpaid parking tickets
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KCTV) - The City of Lawrence is implementing a new parking policy giving drivers with unpaid parking tickets the ‘boot’.
Beginning Monday, May 19, drivers with three or more unpaid parking tickets older than 60 days could find a boot on their car. The driver will also receive a 48-hour notice that the car could be impounded if the parking tickets aren’t paid. A civil process will apply to all parking violations received from January 1, 2025. Any parking violations received prior to that will go through the legal process until they’re resolved.
The city hopes the stricter enforcement will improve access to parking by discouraging repeat offenders.
“It’s hard as someone who lives and works on Mass. Street to see this as anything more than a cash grab for us,” said Stephen Mathes, a Lawrence resident and downtown employee. “There’s a lot of people that will find themselves without transportation, and even though we live and work here on Mass/ Street, we do have other places to go.”
Mathes itted he’s received multiple tickets over the years and believes people in his situation are most at risk of getting booted.
“There are good, reliable jobs, but they don’t pay a lot of money, and even just a small parking ticket could be an entire hour of work,” he said.
The city reported $850,000 in paid parking tickets before the start of the year, with more than 100 individuals facing active warrants. Officials say they’ve observed long-term parkers abusing the city’s free two-hour parking zones and want to hold frequent offenders able.
“When we get compliance from some of our most frequent offenders, we are gonna open up available parking,” said Brad Harrell, parking manager for the City of Lawrence. “It’s gonna be easier for somebody to come down during the lunch hour and find a parking space.”
The system is part of the city’s effort to make downtown Lawrence more accessible for visitors.
“I think it’s gonna be easier for people to find a spot in maybe some of those lunch hours that it’s normally busy,” said Harrell. “They’ll be able to swing in there, go in and actually grab lunch and leave and still make it back to work on time.”
Others say they think the new policy is fair, but it will put them on high alert.
“That’s crazy I think because I know that costs like an outstanding amount of money,” said KU student Luc Diefenbach, “At that point, I would definitely wanna pay the 25 cents to 50 cents to a dollar for the parking instead of paying a hefty fine to get the boot off.”
If a driver finds their car booted, they can scan a QR code that links to a payment portal and remove the boot themselves after settling their fines. Information about how to remove the parking boot can be found on the city’s website.
The city warns that tampering with or damaging the boot could lead to a $1,000 replacement fee, a $500 police fine, and possible jail time. More information about the policy can be found on their website.
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